Both portable computing devices and pagers are well known. It is also known to combine the functionality of a pager as part of a portable computer. One such combination of a portable computing device and a pager is disclosed by May in U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,721.
While the combination of a portable computing device and a pager as shown in the May patent solves the problem of having to carry separate devices for paging and for portable computing, there are several problems with the way in which the paging functionality of the May patent has been integrated as part of the portable computing device.
First, a user must utilize different insert cards for different types of paging systems in the May patent because different paging systems operate over different radio frequencies. This can be problematic if, for example, a user is a registered user of two different paging systems or a user is traveling out of one paging region and into a different paging region where the operating radio frequency of the particular paging system changes.
Second, the operating system of the portable computer in the May patent must be provided with a unique driver program for each different insert card for a different paging system because the format in which the paging information is received by the portable computer will change from insert card to insert card.
Finally, the electronic insert card of the May patent will constantly occupy one of the expansion card slots of the portable computer while only occasionally receiving paging information. As a result, the flexibility and capability of the portable computer is significantly decreased. If the portable computer has only a single expansion slot, then the user must risk not receiving paging information in order to make another use of the expansion slot. If the portable computer has two expansion slots, this problem is solved, but the flexibility and overall capability of configuring the expansion slots of the portable computer are now the same as if the portable computer had only a single expansion slot.
While the May patent teaches an advantageous solution to overcoming the problem of having to carry separate devices for paging and for portable computing, the May patent has several disadvantages in the way in which the paging functionality is integrated with the portable computing device. Therefore a need exists for a paging receiver that can be integrated as part of a portable computing device and which overcomes these problems, while at the same time is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.